Imac optimization for audio? adding a external hard drive for iTunes?....

What the hell? You have heat-sensitive ghosts or something? Too weird.

 

Thx, can you tell what type of CD drive you use to get good rips?, I have search for them and they all seems to be the same, my Imac cd drive is broke so I am using a external drive, Tanscend is the brand, nothing fancy, works well but I don't know if is any better ones?.....

 

What type od NOS DAC you have??.....when you convert the USB signal to Coax there is no lost of signal quality?....

 

Yes, I am running everything on the latest update, but I haven’t done much listening to my files since the iTunes update that includes Airplay 2. That is good to know that your Airplay is hashy with more RAM.

CORRECTION: I am streaming into Airport Express via TOSlink into my Oppo UDP-205 and NOT into the Parasound HINTO. In fact, the Airport Express has too much jitter that the HINTO cannot lock onto the digital signal. This was confirmed by Parasound.

I will be watching this thread carefully, and I hope @vintage4roger finds an error-free solution using his 2011 iMac!

 

Right now, I am using the Border Patrol, coax only with the beefier power supplies.
The converter is the Schitt Eitr.
In terms of signal loss, I have no idea- the tonality on some sources is correct and there is a spacious, unforced sound to the thing. Since the DAC only processes 16 bit depth (14?), I suspect that any losses are sins of omission (which I can live with) rather than commission (stridency or harshness/glare).
Remember, I'm a complete noob when it comes to digital audio, but I'm basing my impressions on a very high standard of analog playback through this system. The digital presentation is different, but on some tracks, it is eerie- Black Ice, by the Wolfert Brederode Trio on ECM, is absolutely stunning, dead quiet backgrounds, the cymbals are fully realized with the kind of clarity and sparkle that is not analytical sounding.
Obviously, as I plunge deeper into the digital area, I'm sure I'll be able to make meaningful comparisons of what I'm gaining or losing. But, the sound on a good album-- whether downloaded at a higher resolution than 16/44 or simply a rip from a CD-- is far better in terms of sounding "real" than I expected.
I acknowledge that this is not the last word in "resolution" but, based on my analog experience, e.g., using SET amps, the tone and timing/decay is more important to me in creating the illusion than something that may spec better but sounds analytical. In saying this, I acknowledge that my real world experience in digital is very limited-- I've heard other systems, but I'm just scratching the surface in my own system, so I'm not presenting this as definitive or exhaustive by any means....

 

FWIW, I am using a very basic ASUS optical drive that I originally bought to load Microsoft Office on my MacBook Air. It will play DVDs as well. I pulled it out, downloaded XLD and rip on my Mac laptop. I haven't had any issues.*

_______________________________________________
*I had a big 27" iMac circa 2012?-- the internal hard drive failed in 2014-5 and was replaced. When I tried to turn it on recently, thinking I might use it to run the Audirvana software, it would not power up. I learned that those units had a history of power supply failures. I decided not to put more money into the iMac, since I rarely use a desktop anyway. I gave it to a friend who is an IT guy and he or one of his buddies can rebuild it.

 

I used to have an external portable WD drive connected to (and powered by) my ASUS router for a quick n dirty NAS. I play the files through my Onkyo receiver via the Onkyo app on my iPad.

Now, the ASUS is retired, using a FiOS router now with no USB NAS capability.

Ideally I’d like a simple, cheap NAS device I can plug that WD hard drive into via USB, have it powered, and be done with it. Yes I’m lazy. Is that possible?

 

I've been using nothing more special than the CD/DVD optical drive I bought at One World, a Mac vendor. It has been working fine. 'SuperDrive' Blu-ray, DVD/CD Optical Drives w/ FireWire, USB & eSATA.

But others will insist that specific drives make a difference. Here is a list compiled by dbPoweramp users: CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016

I'm sure there are at least a couple threads on this forum as well. Here's one; otherwise, do a search.
External drive for ripping CD's

 

I rip to FLAC via XLD and store on my Synology NAS. I also rip to m4a via iTunes to use on the iPhone and these files are stored on my secondary HDD on my Mac mini (2011). My Yamaha amp plays the files from the NAS without converting.

 

No, iTunes is not bit-perfect. Only AccurateRip-type bit-copying software can do that:

AccurateRip

dBPowerAmp (available for both Mac & Windows) can do this very easily.

The dBPowerAmp people actually say that if the file comes up as accurate, then the CD/DVD-ROM drive actually doesn't matter. A rip is either accurate or it's not. What buying a better drive will do is do the rip faster and more reliably, but it won't sound different -- assuming both rips are accurate.

 

I have a 2012 iMac and while it's DAC is reasonably good, it's amp is not! On top of that, just like PCs, you are subjected to electronic noise interfering with your music. The only way aropund this is to bypass the whole iMac audio process and stream anything on it (or an attached HD) directly to a DAC/Amp connected via USB. This then makes the iMac simply a carrier of digital content.

There are many DAC/Amp combinations out there by companies like Fiio, Schiit, JDS Labs, Marantz, Mayflower, uDAC, blah, blah blah. I had been using a Fiio E7 DAC/E9 Amp for my headphones and thought the sound was very good. It's obsolete now, replaced by the E10K but it was a big step up in quality at the time.

I have replaced it with an incredible piece of equipment - the Burson PLAY. I could not believe what it did to the music I was listening to. There are a number of versions starting with the basic at $US299, the V5i at $US395 and the V6 Vivid and V6 classic at $549.

I use this to do all my listening from my iMac and the amp is powerful enough to drive powered speaker systems.

 

Thx, now that I am putting my nose on this topic I am learning more, I was kind away of playing files and ussing downloads in the past, but with the DAC upgrade I did the story change, and after I find tons of FLAC files with MFSL and DCC files to download almost for free I have used more then computer, BUT now I am ussing XDL and after play the downloaded files on FLAC I have noticed two things, first ripped or dowloaded files sounds better than original CDs, AND I still not sure, BUT the burned CD from FLAC downloaded files or CD rips, the burned CD sounds much better than originals, this is a clue now I need to do more test, what you think about it?......

 

I am using some old cd players beside the DAC, they are all from first Gen cd players from 1983/1984, they don't have that "big" sound, but they perform superb, they sound so sweet and natural, also one of my best, a PS1, just super unit they sound really nice.....

 

I've never used XLD (I think), so I can't reliably address your experience. Also, it sounds like you are trying different types of files in the conversion process. Add to that your specific equipment, and your own personal listening and perception experience. So it's difficult to predict what will actually happen when you compare one thing to another.

Speaking generally, if the playback equipment remains consistent, it should be expected that ripped and/or converted files won't sound different than a CD played through the same DAC. But that's not a firm rule; some people do perceive differences. In fact, a number of users report a distinct difference on a burned CD; I've experienced that a little bit myself.

So I (and likely anyone else) can't give you a simple answer to how to proceed archiving your music collection. With so many variables, trial-and-error and lots of listening tests will be the only reliable way for you make those determinations. There really isn't one 'best' approach.

Maybe I'm not the most discriminating listener here. For my purposes, it's enough to know that I've ripped a CD to AccurateRip standards. And for downloaded files, I don't do any conversions at all, but instead use a software player (JRiver) that can play back any file type. It keeps things simple, and sounds excellent by my standards.